Coup Atlas Research Database
← Back to explorer
84011221986AttemptedMilitary coup

Philippines, 1986 — military coup attempt

Philippines (PHL)Southeast Asia, AsiaNovember 22, 1986

Event Summary

The dataset records an event coded as an attempted military coup in the Philippines on 22 November 1986, corresponding to the God Save the Queen plot, a scheme by supporters of Defense Minister Juan Ponce Enrile to force a drastic reshaping of Corazon Aquino's government in their favor. Enrile, one of the military figures whose defection had helped topple Marcos in the February 1986 People Power Revolution, had grown estranged from Aquino, and officers of the Reform the Armed Forces Movement around him, including Colonel Gregorio Honasan, plotted to remove key cabinet members and install a government under Enrile's effective control, keeping Aquino as a figurehead, hence the plot's mocking name. Warned of the conspiracy, Aquino moved first: she reorganized her cabinet and, on 23 November 1986, dismissed Enrile as defense minister, defusing the plot before it could be launched.

The affair marked a decisive break, and Honasan was transferred to a base in Nueva Ecija, where he would recruit and train the soldiers he used in the far bloodier coup attempt of August 1987.

Researched Details

Researched

Independent research, added record by record. Hover any label for what it means.

Target identified in Coup Atlas research: President Corazon Aquino pre-empted the November 1986 God Save the Queen plot by dismissing Enrile
RESEARCHED NAME
Key figures
Corazon Aquino (president of the Philippines, target)
Juan Ponce Enrile (defense minister behind the plot)
Gregorio Honasan (RAM colonel involved)

Sources

The November 1986 God Save the Queen plot and the July 1987 plot were uncovered and quashed by authorities before they could be operationalized.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, 1986 to 1987 Philippine coup attempts open source ↗
Sources reported a plot called God Save the Queen that would have removed key members of Aquino's cabinet and created a prime ministerial government under Enrile's control.
SOURCE REVIEWED Washington Post, Coup Attempts Against Aquino open source ↗
The God Save the Queen plot led to Enrile's dismissal as defense minister by Aquino and the transfer of Honasan to Fort Magsaysay in Nueva Ecija.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, August 1987 Philippine coup attempt open source ↗
At Fort Magsaysay Honasan headed the Special Forces training school and used it as a pool of recruits for his later coup plot.
SOURCE REVIEWED Wikipedia, August 1987 Philippine coup attempt open source ↗

Editorial Note

Dataset date 22 November 1986 corresponds to the God Save the Queen plot, uncovered and pre-empted with Enrile's dismissal on 23 November. Dataset codes it a military coup with leader unharmed, accurate for Aquino. Well documented as a plot rather than an armed rising. Second Philippines record in this batch.

Cross-Reference

Only one dataset carries it. One of the three reference datasets we check against carries this event; the others do not list it. That is not a contradiction — the datasets cover different periods and use different thresholds — but it means the record has had less outside corroboration.

Identifiers for finding this same event in the other datasets:

Cline Center id
84011221986

How the match is made is described in crossref-report.md.

Outcome and Target

Coup Atlas research identifies the target as: President Corazon Aquino pre-empted the November 1986 God Save the Queen plot by dismissing Enrile.

Baseline coding: Coup attempt failed to remove the incumbent. Recorded leader fate: remained in office; not physically harmed. The baseline file does not name individual targets; researched names are kept in a separate layer.

Baseline Dataset Citation

Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset, v2.2.2
Peyton, Buddy, Joseph Bajjalieh, Michael Martin, and Andrea Gerald. 2026. Cline Center Coup d’État Project Dataset. Cline Center for Advanced Social Research. V.2.2.2. February 17. University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. doi: 10.13012/B2IDB-9651987_V10
⚑ This citation establishes the coded baseline record; use the claim-level sources above for the researched narrative.

Baseline Source-Document Entries

CSP

Named in the baseline source document; no article citation was recorded.

Wikipedia

Toronto Star

“Aquino fires entire cabinet after foiled coup attempt,” November 24, 1986

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“U.S. Voices Support For Aquino,” November 24, 1986

This is the citation trail carried by the baseline dataset, grouped by outlet and rejoined from the line-wrapped original. Coup Atlas has not independently re-checked every document; read the original before citing a specific claim. URLs the import damaged beyond safe repair are shown as plain text and listed in citations-report.md. How this list is built →

Know something about this event?
Tips are reviewed against sources before anything is added.